In a crisis, communicating is no longer only about finding the right words: you have to understand a fast-moving situation, master the information environment and act at the right moment. For more than 15 years, SHIGAN has supported executives and organisations facing high-exposure situations: governments internationally, companies hit by reputational, governance, industrial or social crises, institutions and public bodies. We work close to decision-makers, from the analysis of the situation and its stakeholders to the definition of messages, the preparation of spokespeople and media relations.
SHIGAN relies on a proven network of communication and media experts, including former journalists and senior reporters, some of whom have worked in conflict zones. Because a crisis now also plays out in the digital and information space, we systematically include the analysis of social media, competing narratives and disinformation, and, when the situation requires it, information warfare and influence operations. Our analytical tools and our experience of those environments allow us to identify weak signals, assess how narratives spread and help our clients keep or regain control of their communication when every decision counts.
Industrial accident, governance crisis, media exposure, social or health crisis: SHIGAN advises executives and prepares spokespeople, in France and internationally.
You already know what you need: call 06 07 11 27 76 or write to us.
We work from strategic advice to operations.
Before acting, we map who matters in a file and where each player stands.
OSINT stands for open-source intelligence: the analysis of public information such as press, publications, registers and social media. We use it to understand the environment of a file before we act.
A map shows the players in a file, their positions and their links. It is dynamic because we keep it up to date as the situation moves.
We build the positioning, the narrative and the actions that carry your voice.
We clarify with you the role you intend to play in your ecosystem. We then strengthen your positioning and your image.
Storytelling builds the narrative that gives a position its meaning. It makes a message easy to repeat for those who must carry it.
We design the influence actions that carry your message to decision-makers, business circles and the media. For work with public authorities, see influence communications.
We connect the players who need to talk, then keep them engaged over time.
Intermediation connects players who need to talk, and eases the exchange.
Advocacy means defending a position before those who decide.
A nudge is a gentle push: it eases a choice through the way it is presented, without constraint.
Each engagement adapts these steps to the situation, its actors and its timetable. We agree the role of each party and the expected deliverables at the first conversation.
Support to an international industrial group facing the human, legal and media consequences of a fatal accident at one of its sites. SHIGAN prepared and supported the crisis unit, working at the same time on reputational, social and territorial risks, the various legal scenarios, internal communication and media relations. Preparing the spokesperson, talking points and Q&A, organising information flows, defining the doctrine for answering the press and monitoring in real time kept the communication sober, human and controlled in a highly emotional environment, without creating a further crisis through the communication itself.
Support to the shareholders and executives of an industrial group facing an open governance crisis and heavy media exposure. SHIGAN designed and led a crisis communication strategy articulated with the legal and shareholder calendar: risk and media power analysis, crisis scenarios, positioning lines, Q&A and talking points, spokesperson preparation, press releases and targeted relations with the business media. In an environment marked by competing narratives and a highly personalised conflict, the task was to regain control of the tempo and the narrative without feeding escalation, to separate governance issues from operational continuity, and to preserve the trust of employees, partners and stakeholders throughout the crisis.
As part of its work with the French Ministry of Justice, SHIGAN prepares judges, senior officials and spokespeople of the institution to face the media on some of the most sensitive subjects in judicial news. Beyond standard media training, the sessions are built on real situations or crisis scenarios with a strong emotional and media charge: major criminal cases, child protection, sexual violence, drug trafficking, abduction alerts, judicial failures or challenges to the institution. Analysis of the media environment, definition of positioning, messages and red lines, hostile questions, interview simulations and debriefing prepare a precise, human and controlled voice when every word can have institutional, legal and political consequences.
Support in Tunisia to the central and regional teams of a ministry and to the main public players in the water sector, in a context of resource scarcity, growing supply tensions and highly sensitive public opinion. SHIGAN designed and led over several months a programme combining advice, action-training, risk mapping, crisis management organisation, simulations and media training, around concrete situations: drought, shortages, network failures, pumping breakdowns or tensions with users. The challenge went beyond communication alone: it was to restore collective capacity for anticipation and decision, to clarify roles between the central level, regional players and sector operators, to coordinate information better and to prepare spokespeople able to speak in a particularly tense environment. The programme worked on real situations, drew lessons from them and gradually built a shared road map for communication and crisis management.
Repeating a myth in order to correct it can make it stronger. Work on debunking and inoculation shows the fact must come first, then the technique named.
In a crisis, the first hours are not for understanding everything. They are for holding three things together: a fact, a word and a record.
Open-source analysis is neither covert intelligence nor magic. It is a method, and its limits are set before collection begins, not after.
Crisis communication is how an organisation manages its words and relationships when an event threatens its activity, reputation or the trust of its audiences. It organises information, messaging and dialogue with stakeholders during and after the crisis.
As early as possible: before a crisis to anticipate sensitive issues, during it to lead the response, and after it to learn lessons. A first conversation helps qualify the situation and identify the people to mobilise.
SHIGAN maps the actors and turning points, defines the strategy and messages, prepares executives and supports dialogue with stakeholders. We work from strategic advice to operations, alongside your teams.
Crisis communication responds to a situation that is tipping; influence communication gets a position heard where decisions are made. The two can combine when a sensitive issue becomes public.
Yes. SHIGAN works from Paris and internationally, in Africa, Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus and with the European institutions, through a network of partner firms.
A first conversation is enough to know whether this engagement matches what you are looking for.
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